Driven: the original Dodge Dart

With a new 2012 Dodge Dart announced in Detroit, we take a spin in the iconic original

Unlike the original Dodge Dart. Which doesn't handle. As in really, really doesn't handle.

As is often the case with anterior-engined American sedans, its relationship with corners is uncordial at best, tending towards the openly hostile. It begins with an impossibly violent list, then there's some old-movie cop car-style tyre squeal followed by galloping understeer. Should you prod the throttle at any point, you'll find the rear end's broken free at least 40 times more quickly than the steering's able to react to it.